Data Discovery Session - Company Profitability

Read More (http://www.kpipartners.com/blog/bid/182697/Data-Discovery-Is-Not-Business-Intelligence)... Data Discovery Is Not Business Intelligence And Visa Versa... The first mistake many make when undertaking data discovery projects is thinking, "I've done BI for 12 years, this will be easy!"

Data discovery is related to business intelligence but it is not the same task. Business intelligence is about a set of report templates that are standardized and repeatable. Even the ad hoc section of a business intelligence platform is run against a carefully constructed data set used by users to answer questions they already have.

Data discovery is much more free form. Many times data discovery users don't actually know what questions they need to ask. Even if they did, users will often find something that will make them say, "Huh. That's interesting."

In data discovery, users can use their initial question as a springboard into further free form analysis. This free form analysis and data discovery provides an opportunity for a user to have a conversation with the data.

A good way to think of the difference between business intelligence (BI) and data discovery is to think of BI like a Bach Cantata; structured, disciplined, predictable. Data discovery is more like Jazz; flowing, improvisational, and personal.